Simone Beanie: Free Lace Beanie Knitting Pattern

There is something deeply satisfying about knitting a hat. It is one of those projects that moves quickly enough to feel rewarding, small enough to carry anywhere, and useful enough that you will actually wear it. The Simone Beanie takes all of that and adds a touch of elegance that most simple hats lack. With its delicate lace detailing, this free knitting pattern creates a beanie that looks far more complex than it actually is — and that is exactly the kind of pattern we love here at The Knit in the Womb.

Whether you are a beginner who has mastered the knit and purl stitches and is ready for the next challenge, or an experienced knitter looking for a satisfying weekend project, the Simone Beanie is designed for you. This post walks you through everything you need to know: the materials, the stitch pattern, the full written instructions, and tips to help you get a beautiful result every single time.

Why You Will Love the Simone Beanie

Lace knitting has a reputation for being intimidating. Many knitters look at a lace pattern and assume it requires years of experience or complicated techniques. The Simone Beanie gently dismantles that myth. The lace pattern used here is a simple four-row repeat that you will have memorized within the first two inches of knitting. Once it clicks, your hands will move almost automatically, and you will find yourself watching the delicate eyelet columns grow with a sense of quiet pride.

Beyond the satisfying knitting experience, the finished hat is genuinely beautiful. The lace panels give it a light, airy quality that makes it feel more refined than a standard ribbed or stockinette beanie. It is the kind of hat that gets compliments. People will ask where you bought it, and you will get to say you made it yourself — which is, honestly, one of the great joys of being a knitter.

The Simone Beanie also works up quickly. Most knitters complete this hat in a weekend, sometimes in a single long afternoon session. At a worsted weight gauge, you are looking at roughly three to four hours of knitting from cast on to bind off. That makes it a wonderful pattern to return to again and again, for gifting, for charity knitting, or simply because the process itself is enjoyable.

Materials You Will Need

Before you cast on, gather everything you need so the knitting goes smoothly from the start.

Yarn: Approximately 100 to 150 yards of worsted weight yarn (Category 4). The Simone Beanie looks especially lovely in a smooth, plied yarn that allows the lace stitches to stand out clearly. Avoid overly fuzzy or textured yarns for your first version of this pattern, as they can obscure the delicate eyelet detail. Some favorites that work beautifully here include Lion Brand Wool-Ease, Cascade 220, and Paintbox Yarns Simply DK (held double if you want to stay strictly in the worsted range). For a more luxurious version, any merino wool in a worsted weight will give you a hat that is soft against the skin and beautifully drapey.

Needles: US size 7 (4.5mm) circular needles, 16 inches in length, and a set of US size 7 double-pointed needles for working the crown decreases. If you prefer to use the magic loop method or two circulars, you can absolutely do so — the pattern works with any small-circumference knitting method you prefer.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round, a tapestry needle for weaving in your ends, and scissors.

Gauge: 18 stitches and 24 rows equal 4 inches in stockinette stitch, blocked. Gauge matters more for hats than many knitters expect, because a few stitches off can mean the difference between a hat that fits beautifully and one that is too tight to pull over your head or so loose it falls over your eyes. Take a few minutes to knit a gauge swatch and adjust your needle size if needed.

Finished Measurements: The pattern as written produces a hat with a circumference of approximately 20 inches (slightly negative ease fits most adult heads, which typically measure between 21 and 23 inches). The finished height is approximately 9 inches from brim to crown.

Abbreviations and Stitch Guide

If you are newer to knitting lace, the abbreviations might look unfamiliar at first. Here is a quick reference for everything used in this pattern.

k — knit
p — purl
k2tog — knit two stitches together (a right-leaning decrease)
ssk — slip, slip, knit (a left-leaning decrease)
yo — yarn over (creates an eyelet hole and adds one stitch to your needle)
sl m — slip marker
pm — place marker
rem — remaining
rep — repeat
RS — right side (the outside of your work)
WS — wrong side (the inside of your work)

The lace stitch used in the Simone Beanie is simple and elegant. A yarn over creates a small hole in the fabric, and a corresponding decrease keeps your stitch count the same. The pairing of these two elements — the increase and the decrease — is the fundamental building block of all lace knitting. Once you understand that relationship, lace feels much less mysterious.

Pattern Notes

This pattern is worked in the round from the brim upward. The ribbed brim is worked on needles one size smaller than the main body to create a snug, tidy edge that holds its shape well. The lace section is written as a four-row repeat, and the number of repeats you work will determine the final height of the hat before the crown shaping begins.

The crown is worked with simple paired decreases that create a neat, symmetrical finish. Because the lace pattern requires the stitches to be in a specific configuration, the transition from lace to crown shaping requires a few plain knit rounds to set up the decreases cleanly. This is intentional and results in a much tidier crown than working decreases directly into an active lace repeat.

The Simone Beanie: Full Pattern Instructions

Cast On

Using your US size 6 (4.0mm) circular needles and your chosen yarn, cast on 90 stitches. Join to work in the round, being careful not to twist your stitches, and place a stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round.

Brim

Round 1: K1, p1; repeat from to end of round.

Repeat Round 1 until the ribbed brim measures 1.5 inches from the cast-on edge. This k1, p1 rib creates a flexible, neat brim that lies flat and grips the head gently without being uncomfortably tight.

Transition to Body

Switch to your US size 7 (4.5mm) circular needles.

Knit one plain round.

Lace Body Section

The lace pattern is worked over a four-round repeat. You will repeat these four rounds until the hat body measures approximately 5.5 inches from the cast-on edge (measuring the total height including the brim), or until the hat measures about 4 inches from where you switched to the larger needles.

Round 1 (Pattern Round): K3, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k1; repeat from to end of round. (10 stitches per repeat, 9 repeats across 90 stitches)

Round 2: Knit all stitches.

Round 3 (Pattern Round): K1, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk; repeat from to end of round.

Round 4: Knit all stitches.

These four rounds form the Simone lace repeat. Work this four-round repeat until your body section reaches the desired length, ending after completing Round 4.

Transition to Crown

Knit two plain rounds.

Crown Decreases

As you move into the crown shaping, you will need to switch to double-pointed needles (or continue with your preferred small-circumference method) as the stitch count decreases and the work becomes too narrow for the 16-inch circular.

Round 1: K7, k2tog; repeat from to end of round. (80 stitches)

Round 2: Knit.

Round 3: K6, k2tog; repeat from to end of round. (70 stitches)

Round 4: Knit.

Round 5: K5, k2tog; repeat from to end of round. (60 stitches)

Round 6: Knit.

Round 7: K4, k2tog; repeat from to end of round. (50 stitches)

Round 8: Knit.

Round 9: K3, k2tog; repeat from to end of round. (40 stitches)

Round 10: Knit.

Round 11: K2, k2tog; repeat from to end of round. (30 stitches)

Round 12: Knit.

Round 13: K1, k2tog; repeat from to end of round. (20 stitches)

Round 14: Knit.

Round 15: K2tog; repeat from to end of round. (10 stitches)

Finishing

Cut your yarn, leaving a tail of approximately 8 inches. Thread the tail onto a tapestry needle and draw it through the remaining 10 stitches, slipping them off your knitting needle as you go. Pull the yarn tail snugly to close the top of the hat. Pass the needle through to the inside of the hat and weave in this end securely. Weave in the cast-on tail as well.

Block your finished hat by soaking it in cool water for about 15 minutes, gently pressing out the excess water in a towel (do not wring), and then stretching it over a balloon or a bowl of the correct head size to dry. Blocking opens up the lace stitches beautifully and makes the eyelet pattern much more visible and defined. It also evens out any slight inconsistencies in your tension, and it is the step that transforms a good hat into a truly beautiful one.

Tips for Knitting the Simone Beanie

Read through the pattern once before you start. Even experienced knitters benefit from a full read-through before casting on. You will catch anything that feels unclear while you still have time to look it up rather than mid-row with live stitches on your needle.

Use a row counter or keep a tally. The four-round lace repeat is easy to track if you mark which round you are on. Many knitters keep a small notebook beside them, or use a phone app for this purpose. Nothing is more frustrating than losing your place in a repeat and having to tink back several rounds to find it.

Lifelines are your friend. If you are newer to lace knitting, consider threading a lifeline — a length of smooth, contrasting yarn — through all the stitches on your needle at the end of every completed repeat. If you make a mistake and need to rip back, you can rip back to your lifeline rather than all the way to the cast on. This small act of preparedness removes a lot of anxiety from the lace-knitting process.

Pay attention to your yarn overs. The most common mistake in simple lace is dropping a yarn over accidentally or adding an extra one by wrapping the yarn twice. At the end of each round, quickly count your stitches to make sure you still have 90. If the number is off, it is much easier to find and fix the mistake in the current round than several rounds later.

Tension matters for lace. Knitters who pull their yarn tightly tend to find lace difficult because the stitches are compressed and hard to work into. If you knit tightly, try going up a needle size, or consciously practice relaxing your grip on the yarn. Lace knitting generally benefits from a slightly looser tension that allows the stitches room to bloom when blocked.

Yarn Suggestions and Substitutions

The Simone Beanie is versatile when it comes to yarn choice, but a few qualities will give you the best results.

Smooth yarns with a clear stitch definition are ideal because they allow the eyelet holes to read clearly. A yarn with a plied construction (two or more strands twisted together) tends to be more defined than a single-ply yarn, which can split more easily on the needle. That said, many beautiful single-ply wools work wonderfully in this pattern, especially if you are comfortable with the needles.

Fiber content is largely a matter of preference and climate. A pure wool yarn like Cascade 220 gives you excellent stitch definition, durability, and the ability to block well. A merino wool blend will be softer against the skin, which many people prefer for a hat that sits against the face and ears. A wool-acrylic blend like Lion Brand Wool-Ease is machine washable, which makes it a wonderful choice for gift knitting. A cotton or cotton-blend yarn will produce a lighter hat that works well in transitional seasons.

If you want to work this pattern in a DK weight yarn rather than worsted, you can do so by using US size 5 (3.75mm) and US size 6 (4.0mm) needles and casting on 100 stitches (adjusting the repeat count accordingly). The resulting hat will be slightly more delicate and even lighter in appearance, which is a lovely variation.

Size Modifications

The pattern as written fits a standard adult head (approximately 21 to 23 inches in circumference). Because the lace repeat is 10 stitches, it is easy to adjust the stitch count in multiples of 10 to get a different size.

For a child’s version, cast on 70 or 80 stitches and reduce the brim and body length accordingly — aim for about 1 inch of ribbing and 3 to 3.5 inches of body before beginning crown decreases.

For a larger adult head or a looser fit, cast on 100 stitches and add one or two additional inches to the body length before beginning the crown shaping.

The crown decreases can be adjusted proportionally in either case. Simply work your decreases from the total stitch count down to 10 stitches at the top, reducing by one stitch per repeat per decrease round.

The Joy of Lace Knitting

If the Simone Beanie is your first time working with yarn overs and decreases in combination, welcome to a world of knitting that will open up a great deal of the craft to you. Once you are comfortable with the basic mechanics of lace — the yo that makes a hole, the decrease that compensates for it — you will find that a huge library of patterns becomes accessible to you. Shawls, scarves, cardigans, and even socks all use these same fundamental techniques scaled up or varied in arrangement.

Lace knitting is also meditative in a way that plain stockinette is not. Because you are paying gentle, consistent attention to the pattern, your mind does not wander quite so far. Many knitters describe lace as having a quality of focus that is deeply relaxing — just enough engagement to quiet mental noise without being stressful or demanding. The Simone Beanie, with its simple four-row repeat, sits right in that sweet spot.

We designed this pattern to be approachable, beautiful, and practical. A hat you will reach for on cold mornings. A hat you will feel proud to have made with your own hands. A hat worth making more than once — in different colors, different fibers, different sizes for different people in your life.

We hope it brings you as much joy to knit as it brings us to share it.

Sharing Your Simone Beanie

We would love to see your finished hats. If you knit the Simone Beanie, please share your photos on social media and tag The Knit in the Womb so we can celebrate your work. We particularly love seeing the color choices our community makes — this pattern is a wonderful canvas for showing off a special skein of hand-dyed yarn, or for using up that beautiful single skein you have been saving for the right project.

If you have questions about the pattern, please leave a comment below and we will do our best to help. We know that a written pattern can sometimes raise questions that only arise once the needles are in your hands, and we are always happy to clarify.

Happy knitting, and may your stitches always count the way you want them to.